Ten years ago, the inaugural issue of Humanitarian Alternatives was published! The review was created in 2016 out of a collective desire among French-speaking NGOs and foundations to create a forum for discussion between humanitarian practitioners and the academic world. To mark this milestone, we invite you to (re)discover articles that you have enjoyed or that have made a lasting impression on our editorial team.
Top 10 articles online
Ethics, India, Gaza, environment and decolonisation: all of these topics have resonated with the English-speaking readers of Humanitarian Alternatives! We invite you to check out the 10 most-read articles in English on our website (and to see the Top 10 in French, click here)…
10 – Threats to international humanitarian law in Ukraine and Gaza
by Leonard Rubenstein
9 – How the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts are rooted in the issue of imperialism
by Bertrand Bréqueville
8 – Use of research by NGOs: a call for reflection and action
by Christian Dagenais, Solange Dabiré and Valéry Ridde
7 – Ethical considerations around the use of humanitarian imagery
by Françoise Duroch and Maëlle L’Homme
6 – The imperial past and decolonised future of humanitarian action
by William Plowright
5 – “The Kamaishi miracle”: lessons learned from the 2011 tsunami in Japan
by Diane Alalouf-Hall
4 – Nickel in Sulawesi: the price of the green economy
by Garry Lotulung
3 – India’s humanitarian assistance abroad: a domestic and foreign policy issue
by Rachna Shanbog and Rob Kevlihan
2 – “Clean India”: why the undeniable success of the Swachh Bharat Mission does not signal the end of open defecation
by Julien Eyrard
1 – Ukraine, Gaza: double standards
by Rony Brauman
The Editor-in-Chief’s Top 10+1
Boris Martin, editor-in-chief of Humanitarian Alternatives since the review’s launch, shares his selection with you: one article for each year the review has been in publication! A retrospective of 10 years of analysis and debate, spanning 31 insightful issues.
2016 |
Why risk publishing a new international humanitarian review?
|
“The founding editorial, signed by four leading figures in the French humanitarian sector. There was no guarantee we would succeed, but everything was already laid out in this text, which serves as our guiding compass” |
2017 |
From resilience to localisation, or how slogans are not enough for an in-depth reform of the humanitarian sector
|
“Recognising articles that offer a glimpse of what the future might hold…” |
2018 |
Interview with Reza: An eye on the world |
“Journalists and photographers have long been companions of humanitarian efforts. Reza, who comes from Iran, is one of them. And he has offered to illustrate this entire issue with his photographs.” |
2019 |
Médecins Sans Frontières-France: tensions arising from the “Migration” projects
|
“MSF’s (self-)critical perspective, which remains as highly valued as ever. And the mutual support between the review and MSF’s research centres (Crash and UREPH) continues unabated.” |
2020 |
A test of dignity: an anthropological analysis of Covid-19 responses in West Africa
|
“2020. The world is turned upside down, and the review is shifting its editorial focus to assess the crisis, both in France and around the world.” |
2021 |
“Do no harm”: the challenge of transactional sex in humanitarian operations
|
“Confronting pressing issues that do not spare the humanitarian sector. That, too, is the role of the review.” |
2022 |
Russian civil society put to the test by the invasion of Ukraine
|
“The growing hostility of dictatorships and illiberal democracies toward civil society has a clear precedent, which these two authors describe perfectly.” |
2023 |
Prisoners of war: high-intensity warfare’s blind spot?
|
“Identify blind spots, provide in-depth analysis, and offer some insight into what might happen…” |
2024 |
Ukraine-Gaza: the disappearance of strategy
|
“Far from the military-humanitarian approach, benefit from the expertise of an Army General who doesn’t mince words.” |
2025 |
How to avoid the wrong enemy: progressive and reactionary critiques of humanitarian action
|
“Everything you’ve always wanted to understand about the reasoning behind the criticism directed at the humanitarian sector.” |
2026 |
Social urgency, local resilience and resistance: when humanitarian players get involved in France
|
“Exploring under-researched issues, seeking solutions, and opening up new perspectives: the review alongside the leaders.” |
